Gunslinger Girl: The First Priority
by shanejayell
Summary: The girls come to a realization on how to best protect their handlers. Divergence.


Disclaimer: I own none of the characters from Gunslinger Girl, they all belong to the original creator and animation company. I'm also using names from the manga version...

Gunslinger Girl: The First Priority

Henrietta smiled as she walked beside Giuseppe, feeling a deep contentment as her light brown hair blew in the breeze. Italy was beautiful this season, the summer air surprisingly clean and the sun shining down joyously upon them. The mission had gone well, with captives taken and no one the wiser in the neighborhood.

"You've done very well, Henrietta," Giuseppe said as he smiled down at her, his black hair falling into his eyes,

"Thank you," Henrietta smiled, clutching her violin case close.

Giuseppe looked thoughtful as they paused by the van, looking back at the target's building a moment. "I liked it when you went ahead after I fell behind," he mused, "and carried out my plan perfectly."

"I was worried I went too far," Henrietta admitted.

"No," Giuseppe shook his head as he told her firmly, "you kept in mind the most important thing of all."

Henrietta looked up at him eagerly, "What?"

"The mission always comes first," Giuseppe nodded seriously. "No matter what else happens, you have to complete the mission," he looked down at her, "or there could be dire consequences for any other agents involved."

Henrietta looked like a light was dawning behind her eyes as she murmured, "I never thought of it that way."

"That's how agents have to think," Giuseppe said as they got into the van and headed out, "to get the job done."

After a moment Henrietta said, "Thank you, Giuseppe. I'll remember that."

Back at home base Henrietta told Rico about her day first, emphasizing the importance of what Giuseppe had said to her. Rico listened attentively, of course, her light brown-blonde hair falling into her eyes as she nodded agreement. "So we should always make sure the mission is completed," Rico mused.

"But," Claes looked curious, the dark blue haired girl looking down from her bunk at them talking, "what if there was a weak link?"

"Like?" Triela asked, the boyishly dressed blonde's long hair flowing down her back as she shared tea with Henrietta and Rico.

"We're cyborgs," Rico said after a moment, "we're conditioned to obey, we can suppress pain and carry out any mission."

Claes nodded her agreement, "But we're not the weak link, are we?"

Henrietta's eyes widened, "Our handlers?"

"Huh," Rico sat back, nodding. "You've got a point," she conceded, "if something did go wrong, it'd be them."

"No," Triela said, shaking her head.

"They are the more fragile part of our bond," Claes noted, "if something goes wrong, we'd best be ready to pick up the slack."

"Maybe," Henrietta said, her expression troubled.

"Hmm," Rico said after a moment's consideration, "do you think we should talk about it with the other girls?"

Cleas spoke up quickly, "I think it is important to share."

"You're right," Henrietta agreed, comforted to know they were all talking about something Giuseppe had told her.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0

The phone woke Giuseppe from a sound sleep, jerking him awake as he fumbled for it on the bedside. "Hello?" he managed, blinking as he peered at the clock and realized it was just three a.m. in the morning.

"We've lost contact with the compound," his Chief in Section 2 said grimly. Lorenzo continued, "Get to the emergency meeting place, immediately."

The dial tone cut off communication and Giuseppe looked at the phone blankly a second. Shaking off his shock he bounced out of bed, grabbing at his clothes and dressing as he tried to consider what might have happened to the secret Social Welfare compound where they trained and built their unique assassins.

Sadly, there was a long list of possibilities. The mob could have struck back for their interference in a case, a rival spy organization might have dome it, and it was even possible that another agency within their own government might have taken action. Shaking his head Giuseppe grabbed his keys, wallet and phone and was off, racing through the dark streets.

The office building was rented by a holding company, guarded by automated security and equipped with top of the line surveilance gear to monitor the compound. In theory they should be able to find out what was going on within minutes, but from what he recalled from the sound of their boss' voice he didn't know and wasn't happy about it.

The office was buzzing as Giuseppe entered, men and women studying screens, gathered around tables and talking to and over each other. Seeing his brother Jean Giuseppe hurried over as he quietly asked, "What do we know?"

"Alarms went off a hour ago," Jean said briskly, "we lost all contact five minutes after that. We're trying to bring security cameras up, get a look inside."

Giuseppe fought back his anger as he coldly asked, "And why wasn't I called sooner?"

"I don't know," Jean shrugged casually as he said, "maybe no one wanted to deal with your drama over Henriette?"

"Why you..." Giuseppe growled.

"We've got video!" a technician yelled, distracting them from what could have been a very damaging fight.

With that they hurried over, each jostling the others as the pictures appeared. The inside of the compound looked peaceful at first, but moving from camera to camera they saw splashes of blood on the floor where staff had fallen. Yet strangely there were no bodies, someone having cleaned up the mess.

Lorenzo frowned as he asked, "Can you show me the science labs?"

"Trying," the tech answered apologetically as he tried to redirect the feed. The operating theater came up, finally, with more of the red stains on the floor. The facility seemed oddly intact, containers and shelves undisturbed as if the attackers had been aware of how important the technology was.

"Do you think they want to steal the cyborg technology?" Jean wondered, frowning.

A phone ringing caused everyone to look at Giuseppe, who drew out his celphone as he sheepishly excused himself. "Hello...?" he started, then stiffened as he blurted, "Henrietta?!"

Lorenzo jerked up, eyes widening as everyone else looked at Giuseppe. "Hello, Giuseppe," Henrietta said, "I hope I didn't wake you?"

"It's fine," Giuseppe said quickly, "are you and the others all right?"

"Of course we are," Henrietta replied. "Can I speak with Lorenzo?"

"We'll put you on speaker phone," Giuseppe said after Lorenzo nodded firmly. The phone was hooked up, and soon the entire room could hear.

"What's your status?" Lorenzo asked urgently as he leaned against the table, "Who attacked the facility?"

"We did," Rico answered calmly.

You could have heard a pin drop in the control room. "What?" Hillshire asked, the older man's eyes widening in alarm.

"We are now taking over field operations for Section 2," Claes said calmly, "assign us missions, and we will complete them on our own. No handlers will be involved in our missions from now on."

"You can't..." Jean blurted.

Lorenzo held up a hand, shushing his people. "Why have you done this?" he asked them reasonably.

"Our conditioning demands we protect our handlers," Henrietta said quietly, "but each time we go into the field together your lives are in danger. This way you'll be safe, and the only lives we'll risk are our own." She paused, "Accomplishing the mission is our priority, and our handlers will only slow us down."

"Why did you kill everyone at the base?" Jean demanded.

"They were a security risk," Rico explained cheerfully.

"We have to go now," Triela said wryly, "I'm certain Section 1 or you have already mobilized a security team."

"Make contact with us through the usual emergency channels," Claes said calmly, "the assignments will be completed. However, we won't be responsible for the consequences if we are attacked."

The dial tone was loud as they hung up, the handlers and the techs looking at each other with mixed emotions. "All right," Lorenzo said briskly, "we'll give this a try."

"What?" Jean demanded, "Are you insane?"

"And if it doesn't work," Lorenzo continued on as if he hadn't heard Jean, "we'll be ready to kill them all."

0o0o0o0o0o0o0

"So," Henrietta asked quietly as they loaded up a van, "what do we do now?"

"We establish a new safe house," Triela said as she put in the cases of their unique medical supplies, "then wait for our first job."

"Are you sure we did the right thing?" Claes asked, her rifle still slung over her shoulder.

"Of course," Rico smiled cheerfully, "it's to protect our handlers, after all."

End

Notes: The idea of the conditioning the girls got backfiring isn't new, as the series itself features a girl who kills herself and her handler due to her falling in love with him. Of course, I had to be evil and have poor Giuseppe say something that triggered the whole mess. lol


End file.
